The Football Manager Youth Academy Challenge

[XaW]

4 minutes ago, Hovis Dexter said:

That’s a total pain. It happened to me all the time on my first attempt at this challenge so I’ve started offering virtually all my youth players professional contracts ASAP.

I would, but....

I can't offer anything other than non-contracts... to anyone! I've decided to save money now, and try to turn the club professional as soon as possible. 

[Hovis Dexter]

32 minutes ago, XaW said:

I would, but....

I can't offer anything other than non-contracts... to anyone! I've decided to save money now, and try to turn the club professional as soon as possible. 

Oh ... I understand now.

[Fadedaf]

Oppsal Season 2041 Report

Although I got an email saying that we had qualified for the Europa League this season, this was not true apparently. This was therefore not to be our first European adventure, but we could still focus on improving our position in the league and actually qualifying for next year!

Cup- Easy wins against lower league Mo 5-1 and Kolstad 5-0 saw us get a really tough draw in the 3rd round with Tromsø, a decent team from our division who we had to play away from home. We put in a pretty awful performance and lost 3-0. Another disappointing year in the cup but I guess I can blame it on the tough draw somewhat.

League- We went through spells of good and bad form but pretty much stuck in the Europa League places of 3rd-5th for almost the entire season. With a couple games to go we secured European qualification and still had a shot at 2nd but a very rough string of fixtures saw us finish with three straight losses and come 4th. Still, a definite improvement on last year and we are actually qualified for Europe this time!

Best Players-

Top goalscorer: Eirik Gunderson 39B (17 goals) This guy came completely out of nowhere. Our star striker from last season and European Golden Boy winner Andreas Samuelsen 37F picked up lots of injuries and missed over a third of the season, meaning young Eirik got some first team chances. He smashed in 5 in his first two games in the cup, then I discovered he could actually take penalties with an attribute of 14! he scored literally 8 of them from 8 attempts throughout the season. After a few penalties he began scoring a couple of actual legitimate goals in proper league games and he ended up as the top goalscorer! My other striker Emil Liebe-Hart 36C was not far behind with 16.

Most assists: Emil Liebe-Hart 36C (9 assists) Solid effort from this guy who was consistent in creating and scoring goals all season.

Highest avg rating: Emil Liebe-Hart 36C (7.28)

Most POM: Marius Sundal 36E (6) Another good season from the young fullback who wins this award back to back

MVP: Emil Liebe-Hart 36C (16 goals, 9 assists, 5 POM, 7.28 avg rating)

Best U23 Player: Emil Liebe-Hart 36C as he's 21. Honorable mention to Marius Sundal 36E (3 goals, 7 assists, 6 POM, 7.28 avg rating)

Results Results 2 (no) Transfers

 

A good season overall with clear progress since last year. Next year I think we can challenge for the top 2 and a Champions League place as long as we don't have too many injuries and Rosenborg and Molde don't run away with it too easily! Our stadium is being expanded currently and we constantly have facility upgrades going.

|         League        | Pos.  |   Cup       |  Europe    |  Top scorer     |    Top assists          |    Highest avg rating|     Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019   2nd Division       3rd      2nd Round        -         Bransdal(22)        Bransdal(8)               Bright-Taylor(7.41)     PROMOTION
2020   1st Division      11th      1st Round        -         Langåker(11)        Östman/Nilsen(7)          Bright-Taylor(7.06)     Survived
2021   1st Division       9th      3rd Round        -         Langåker(14)        Rosendal/Nilsen(6)        Kristiansen(7.20)       Mid Table
2022   1st Division       9th      2nd Round        -         Langåker(18)        Rosendal/Paulsberg(6)     Bright-Taylor(7.07)     Mid Table
2023   1st Division      14th      1st Round        -         Bransdal(9)         Nilsen(5)                 Nilsen(7.08)            Relegated
2024   2nd Division       2nd      3rd Round        -         Langåker(17)        Nilsen(9)                 Bright-Taylor(7.51)     PROMOTION
2025   1st Division      15th      2nd Round        -         Langåker(10)        Harviken(7)               Nilsen(7.14)            Relegated
2026   2nd Division       2nd      1st Round        -         Langåker(17)        Harviken(11)              Granhaug(7.58)          PROMOTION
2027   1st Division       8th      3rd Round        -         Langåker(9)         Nilsen(7)                 Nilsen(7.21)            Mid Table
2028   1st Division       8th      4th Round        -         Langåker(17)        Nilsen(7)                 Nilsen(7.23)            Mid Table
2029   1st Division       8th      3rd Round        -         Krogstad(11)        Nilsen/Hoel(7)            Hoel(7.09)              Mid Table
2030   1st Division       8th      1st Round        -         Furthi(11)          Rygh(4)                   Furthi(7.10)            Mid Table
2031   1st Division       4th      2nd Round        -         Langåker/Furthi(15) Hoel(9)                   Hoel(7.23)              PROMOTION
2032   Premier Div.      14th      4th Round        -         Furthi(8)           Rytterager(6)             Knudtzon(7.04)          Relegated
2033   1st Division       5th      4th Round        -         Furthi/Krogstad(8)  Hoel/Jakhelln(6)          Auklend(7.13)           Playoffs
2034   1st Division       8th      2nd Round        -         Furthi(10)          Hoel/Knudtzon(5)          Knudtzon(7.28)          Mid Table
2035   1st Division       4th      Semi final       -         Jakelln/Ferrer(11)  Hoel(11)                  Jakelln(7.23)           Playoffs
2036   1st Division       4th      2nd Round        -         Jakelln(7)          Hoel/Vraalsen(7)          Knudtzon(7.22)          Playoffs
2037   1st Division       7th      4th Round        -         Aune(8)             Haaland(6)                Knudtzon(7.21)          Mid Table
2038   1st Division       1st      1st Round        -         Sandvik(15)         Aabel(8)                  Aabel(7.32)             PROMOTION
2039   Premier Div.       9th      Quarter final    -         Liebe-Hart(14)      Aabel(11)                 Aabel(7.24)             Mid Table
2040   Premier Div.       6th      3rd Round        -         Samuelsen(17)       Sundal/Paulsberg/L-H(6)   Sundal(7.24)            Top Half
2041   Premier Div.       4th      3rd Round        -         Gundersen(17)       Liebe-Hart(9)             Liebe-Hart(7.28)        EL Qual

 

[XaW]

 XaW - Undrið FF - 2027

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

So KÍ Klaksvík keeps using us as their youth academy...

I really can't wait to be professional! All requests have been denied so far, but I'll keep asking! The season went quite well regardless of the missing players, but we struggle against the 3 professional sides in the league. Still, in the end we beat ÍF Fuglafjørður and finished in a strong 3rd place this season. So back to Europe for next season.

In the Løgmanssteypið we beat B36 Tórshavn and EB/Streymur before losing to KÍ Klaksvík in the semi finals.

We had another stint in Europe this season and we started in the preliminary rounds of the Europa League. Our first opponent were Shirak of Armenia. We beat them 3-1 at home and then 5-4 in a spectacle in Gyumri. In the 1st qualifying round we faced Schachzjor Salihorsk of Belarus. We crushed them 5-1 at home, and that was enough to go through even though we lost 4-2 away. In the 2nd qualifying round we faced Sankt Gallen of Switzerland. We held them to a 1-1 away, but narrowly lost 1-2 at home to go out. Still, a great run from the lads.

This years youth intake was pretty strong again with some very talented players. The main ones are Rúni Eliasen 27a and Petur Mikkelsen 27g.

Player statistics

Most apps:
Tóki Joensen 23d - 37 apps
Ólavur Justinussen 23c - 33(2) apps
Pætur Hansen 20e - 32(1) apps

Most goals:
Ólavur Justinussen 23c - 24 goals
Pætur Hansen 20e - 11 goals
Ólavur Mohr 26l / Pætur Hansen 25i - 10 goals

Most assists:
Pætur Hansen 20e - 10 assists
Sonni Mortensen 25j / Mathias Olsen 22b - 6 assists
Bárður Joensen 25d - 5 assists

Highest average rating:
Ólavur Justinussen 23c - 7.27
Mathias Olsen 22b - 7.27
Jan Joensen 19j - 7.18

Season    Division             Position     Løgmanssteypið    Europe              Notes and Achievements     
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019      1. delid             1st          N/A               N/A                 Promoted as champions
2020      Effodeildin          6th          Quarter final     N/A                 Avoided relegation
2021      Effodeildin          10th         Quarter final     N/A                 Relegated
2022      1. delid             1st          Semi final        N/A                 Promoted as champions
2023      Effodeildin          5th          Quarter final     N/A                 Mid-table
2024      Effodeildin          4th          Quarter final     N/A                 Qualified for Europe
2025      Effodeildin          4th          Quarter final     EL 2nd qual         Just off the European spots
2026      Effodeildin          4th          Runner-up         N/A                 Qualified for Europe
2027      Effodeildin          3rd          Semi final        EL 2nd qual         Qualified for Europe

[XaW]

 XaW - Undrið FF - 2028

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

This winter we only lost a single player!

I mean, it was one of our best defenders, but still, only one lost! Managing to keep the most of the squad game me confidence before the season. The media have finally caught up and expected a top half finish from us, instead of the normal "relegation scrap" they usually expect. However, we went beyond that. From the get go, the team played amazingly, and we kept quite a lot of clean sheets. And we soon had a pretty good gap down to the other teams. Of course, it helped quite a bit that KÍ Klaksvík failed to win any of their first 5 matches, but I'll take the positives still. As the season went into the latter part we still kept winning and clinched the title with several matches left. Finally, a title! And qualification for the Champions League is a nice bonus! We still aren't professional though, and I keep pestering them about it.

In the Løgmanssteypið we lost to ÍF Fuglafjørður in the 1st round.

We had another attempt in Europe this season and started in the Europa League 1st qualification round. Here we faced Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar. They got dispatched quite easily 5-0 and 4-0. In the 2nd qualification round we drew Dinamo Brest of Belarus. We held them to 1-1 away, but suffered a heavy 1-5 loss at home after getting 3(!) players sent off. Dinamo also had a man sent off, so I blame horrible refereeing!

The youth intake this season were not as exciting as the last few years, but not bad. My coaches rate Ari Johannesen 28b and Jóhan Petersen 28e the most.

Player statistics

Most apps:
Tóki Joensen 23d - 32 apps
Pætur Hansen 25i - 29 apps
Ólavur Mohr 26l - 28(1) apps

Most goals:
Ólavur Mohr 26l - 26 goals
Pætur Hansen 25i - 16 goals
Ólavur Justinussen 23c - 11 goals

Most assists:
Jan Joensen 19j - 12 assists
Bogi Olsen 26j / Pætur Hansen 20e - 9 assists
Rani Nolsøe 24g - 8 assists

Highest average rating:
Jan Joensen 19j - 7.96
Bogi Olsen 26j - 7.68
Ólavur Mohr 26l - 7.49

Season    Division             Position     Løgmanssteypið    Europe              Notes and Achievements     
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019      1. delid             1st          N/A               N/A                 Promoted as champions
2020      Effodeildin          6th          Quarter final     N/A                 Avoided relegation
2021      Effodeildin          10th         Quarter final     N/A                 Relegated
2022      1. delid             1st          Semi final        N/A                 Promoted as champions
2023      Effodeildin          5th          Quarter final     N/A                 Mid-table
2024      Effodeildin          4th          Quarter final     N/A                 Qualified for Europe
2025      Effodeildin          4th          Quarter final     EL 2nd qual         Just off the European spots
2026      Effodeildin          4th          Runner-up         N/A                 Qualified for Europe
2027      Effodeildin          3rd          Semi final        EL 2nd qual         Qualified for Europe
2028      Effodeildin          1st          1st round         EL 2nd qual         Champions and qualified for CL

[XaW]

 XaW - Undrið FF - 2029

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

We kept all the players I wanted this summer, so things were looking good for us. We ran away early on, along KÍ Klaksvík while the rest were a bit behind. Being semi-pro we had a disadvantage, but the players kept playing great match in and match out. Going into the final match we were 2 points ahead of KÍ Klaksvík, but were up against a tough opponent away to ÍF Fuglafjørður. We conceded within the first 15 minutes, but equalised shortly after. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the win, and then when KÍ Klaksvík won their match they took the league on goal difference as well. So close, but no cigar.

In the Løgmanssteypið we beat Víkingur Gøta and NSÍ Runavík to reach the final. Here we lost 2-0 to KÍ Klaksvík.

Our first try in the Champions League were up when we had another go in Europe. We started in the 1st qualification round against FK Aktobe of Kazakhstan. We beat them 3-0 away and followed it up with a 2-1 at home. In the 2nd qualification round we faced Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia. A 2-2 draw away lead up to an amazing 5-2 in the islands. In the 3rd qualification round we drew Young Boys of Switzerland. We lost heavily 1-4 at home, but held them to 1-0 away. Then we headed into the Europa League were we had a rematch against Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia. We drew 1-1 at home, but lost 3-1 away to go out. So close to the group stage, but no.

At the end of the season I had a very welcome message:

We are going pro, baby!

The youth intake this season were very good. The coaches rate Rógvi Jacobsen 29b and Eirikur Joensen 29c the most.

Would be fun, but not yet!

Player statistics

Most apps:
Tóki Joensen 23d - 40 apps
Pætur Hansen 20e - 34 apps
Pætur Hansen 25i - 33(2) apps

Most goals:
Ólavur Mohr 26l - 19 goals
Ari Johannesen 28b - 13 goals
Pætur Hansen 25i - 11 goals

Most assists:
Bogi Olsen 26j - 12 assists
Petur Mikkelsen 27g - 9 assists
Rani Nolsøe 24g / Pætur Hansen 20e / Jan Joensen 19j - 8 assists

Highest average rating:
Bogi Olsen 26j - 7.61
Jan Joensen 19j - 7.51
Petur Mikkelsen 27g - 7.43

Season    Division             Position     Løgmanssteypið    Europe              Notes and Achievements     
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019      1. delid             1st          N/A               N/A                 Promoted as champions
2020      Effodeildin          6th          Quarter final     N/A                 Avoided relegation
2021      Effodeildin          10th         Quarter final     N/A                 Relegated
2022      1. delid             1st          Semi final        N/A                 Promoted as champions
2023      Effodeildin          5th          Quarter final     N/A                 Mid-table
2024      Effodeildin          4th          Quarter final     N/A                 Qualified for Europe
2025      Effodeildin          4th          Quarter final     EL 2nd qual         Just off the European spots
2026      Effodeildin          4th          Runner-up         N/A                 Qualified for Europe
2027      Effodeildin          3rd          Semi final        EL 2nd qual         Qualified for Europe
2028      Effodeildin          1st          1st round         EL 2nd qual         Champions and qualified for CL
2029      Effodeildin          2nd          Runner-up         CL 3rd q/EL 4th q   Good European run, close to a new title

Edited September 21, 2019 by XaW

[darren1983]

Turning pro will be massive help @XaW good going so far though.

[SkiIIs]

Giving this a go with FC Rapid in Romania to kill time before FM20 comes out

[SkiIIs]

FC Rapid Bucheresti

Season 2019/20

League   Youth Intake   Finances  Transfers

Decided to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation which suited the team with many AMC's and not many striker options to choose from. Overall quality of the team was strong for the 2nd division with some really quality youngsters with 5 star potential. Full disclosure - two players were signed in the preseason,  none by me and both were prior me taking over. Prior to transfer deadline my board accepted a bid for one of my 5 star potential youngsters for $55k which ended up being peanuts. 

Started the season well and never really looked back. Clinched promotion into the top league with 4 games to go playing a pretty young squad week in week out. Finances are a worry as I started with a balance of $120k and ended up in the red by $250k despite being under payroll budget by a fair bit so wasn't able to upgrade any facilities or anything. Didn't get any cash injections either.

Next season hoping to stay up in the first division, there's only 14 teams with 3 getting relegated so it should be a tough challenge to stay up.

 

[Marazola]

Just a note: I did a youth academy only challenge but a tad different to the ones here. I'm in 2128 and I've been to 10 CL finals, lost them all (get your jokes in).

I did this challenge in Lesotho with Liphakoe. Basically the rules I modified are that I managed an international team at one point and rebought players. I changed it a bit to make it so I can only buy players who generated at my club.

So if I win eventually, I don't qualify for the hall of fame BUT I still feel like I accomplished something with this save.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Marazola

[Brother Ben]

2 hours ago, Marazola said:

I'm in 2128

[SkiIIs]

FC Rapid

Season 2 - 2020/21

My first time coaching in Romania (top league) and boy was I surprised! thought it would be a quick 13 game season but nope, a further 10 more matches in a championship play off. Anyhow, season went significantly better than expected finishing in 3rd spot after the first part of the league. Never really challenged for top spot but was in either 2nd or 3rd for majority of the season.

Finances were a worry especially after getting knocked out early in the cup so wasn't able to upgrade anything. That was until PSG got interested in my 18 DC Stan in the January window. First part of the negotiations they offered $700k non negotiable which I rejected, Stan was disappointed but they came back and I got $2.5m a 50% sell on clause and a friendly out them which allowed me to upgrade our training facilities and youth facilities.  Also managed to start a couple of training courses as well but after that my balance is back to $0.  This now leaves me with no good DC's nor any with decent potential either. 

Anyways, back to the championship playoff, I wasn't close enough to 1st spot so just wanted to consolidate my 3rd position to qualify for the Euro Cup.  In the next 10 games I went 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses to finish in second.

Youth intake in wasn't anything I really needed, some 5 star potential CM's which im kinda full of.  Really need 2 DC's to replace the two ive sold in the past two season.

The Romanian league improved 6 spots to be the 14th best in Europe meaning we get 2 spots in the Champions League (1 last season) and 3 in the Euro Cup (2 last season) so that gives me more to aim for.

League Standings 1&2  Finances

[SkiIIs]

FC Rapid

Season 3 - 2021/22

League Tables   Transfers  Youth Intake   

Season started off with Euro Cup qualifiers, first qualifying round I beat Shakhtar Soligorsk 6 - 4 on aggregate, then had AEK in the second round and dispatched them 4-0 at home in the first leg and 6 - 2 overall. Third round matched us against Ufa of Russia which I expected to get knocked out especially after a 2-2 draw at home but a 5-1 demolition away put in the last round before the group stage. The draw was somewhat kind to us as we had Ludogrets of Bulgaria. This time we were away first and in a tough game we came away with a 1-1 draw. At home were deserving winners 2-1. In the group stage we had Napoli, Spartak Moscow and Standard Liege. I think we held our own even tho we only got 2 points out of the 6 games. Apart from the two games against Napoli, we were in with a chance to win those games but luck wasn't on our side.   I wasn't too fussed tho, by then our bank balance from this competition was close to $6m which made me regret selling Stan to PSG last season.

In the league we struggled as the games were coming thick and fast and the depth of the team really isn't there to be competing in so many games.  We were hovering around mid table all the way towards the end of Nov start of Dec and were about 9th going into the xmas break. The summer break is exactly what we needed as the games after that were roughly 1 game per week. This is where we made our charge, we won against the top teams in the last 5 games after xmas which helped up finish fifth and out us into the champions play off. The fine run of results continued and in the next 8 games we went 7 wins and 1 draw to put us 1st with 2 games left and a 4 point gap to 2nd. We ended up losing the next two games but were crowned champions!  Really feel like we stole this and somewhat underserved the way this league is set up but hey, i'll take it!

We made significant improvements thanks to our new found income stream and managed to buy the stadium we were renting - 14k capacity. Also improved training and youth facilities and youth recruitment.

The youth intake was ok, I a least have a DC I can work on and potentially a striker as well. Our current squad had some developments, young Taturu is the preferred GK and 17yo Cioalca 20B came out of nowhere and developed into a 4 star CA so trained him up to play wing as well.  Another MC Enescu 21A also turned into a 3 star CA which is great. Still lacking in depth so next season will be a challenge with the champions league or Euro cup depending how qualification goes.

Didn't lose any players I didn't want to, sold a 17yo MC that wasn't going to get much love for a decent fee.

Edited October 4, 2019 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

FC Rapid

Season 4 - 2022/23

Leagues   Youth Intake   Transfers

Season started with winning the Romanian Super Cup in penalties against FCSB.

Winning the league last year got me to the Champions League playoff 3rd phase which put us against Celtic. Their squad had half a dozen non greyed out players all with players way above our standard so thought this would be a quick campaign. First leg at home we smashed them 4 - 0, totally surprising but well deserved. Second leg played a few squad players trying to juggle the league and lost 2 nil but that put us in the final playoff before the group stages. The draw was kind and we were paired with Apol Limassol of Cyprus which we won 6 - 1 over the two legs. Group stage put us in the group of death but then again any group would be group of death for us, Man City, Juve and Monaco. We managed 2 home draws against Man city and Monaco at home but weren't disgraced in the other 4 losses.

The League was similar to last season, during the European campaign we struggled in the league but once knocked out with games being played once a week, we did quite well. We finished 3rd in the first part of the season but 10 points away from first. 3 games into the champions play off section we hit top spot and played against Craiova who were second. We lost at home and then Craoiva never looked back.  We kept consistent after that and finished second which got us Champions league football again next season.   The Romanian league improved to 11th in Euro coefficients meaning there are 3 spots in the champions league next year. 

Wasn't overly pleased with the youth intake, got another DC to work with but thought we'd get better players coming through since we've seriously improved our facilities and youth recruitment. Thinking it might be the HOYD who is also a Director of the club which I cannot replace.  His stats aren't great. Would love some advice here if anyone is reading?  is it worth changing the responsibilities to a u19 coach or something?

Expanded the stadium capacity to 18.5k, improved both training and youth facilities and have a bank balance of 20m

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Viikingit Skol Skool 2019 Report

 

Why does every Finnish team sound like a sexually transmitted disease?

No screenshots, just the guff. I mean, if somebody specifically requests a screenshot of something….

If it’s not obvious, this youth challenge is just about the team name.

I know that @The_Gato_In_Goal did Viikingit as well. I'll only be reading his reports in retrospect, but thanks, Gato, for tipping me off with your challenge that a Viking (almost) named team was in play for this challenge. Who knows. Maybe he only did one season.

Update: Ah, I see Zymberi left the club in the first season. If that was Gato's choice, maybe it's cruel to have him tagged into the report.

Interestingly the team has 2 sets of brothers. Not come across that before.

It looked as though we were going to walk away with the league at the very first time of asking. We thrashed all our fellow divisioners in the league cup, and went all the way to the quarter final where we lost narrowly to HJK who ended up winning the Premier League.

Unfortunately, KTP caught up with us in the league after it seemed as though it would be a cakewalk, closing at least a 6 point gap. We went into the last day in 2^nd place, 2 points behind them. We needed to win, and for them not to. We did our bit, but they closed the deal.

So to the playoffs. At least it should be a bit of extra money, and if we hadn't been promoted, not necessarily the end of the world. I must admit, I got rid of most of the promotion wage increases just in case.

So to the playoff against KPV. We were the better team in both legs, but both ended 1-1, so to extra time where we got the winner, and for better or worse, we will be in the top division next season.

Top Goalscorer - Behar Zymberi – 24

Supposedly my 3^rd best striker when I took over, and played in an unsuitable role.

 

Highest Average Rating - Jere Pulkkinen 7.68

A full back

 

Man of the Match - Behar Zymberi – 5

MVP - Behar Zymberi

Most Promising Player (MPP) - Simon Thurling

My 24 year old midfield general, though he’s obviously fairly near his potential already. Basically, my future wonderkids are still in the post.

 

Youth Intake

Not sure there’s really all that much to say about the first intake. The top 5 guys were all strikers, or that’s how they’ll be used even where it’s not their best position, and may well be useful eventually. We were thin on the ground up front, so 2 of them were utilised as subs for the final matches of the season, though they got little actual time on the pitch.

There’s 4 from the intake who are basically neck and neck so far behind my 3 starters.

Of them Ari Ollikainen (YP1e) has got the most 1^st team time (23 whole minutes), largely because he’s good at free kicks. In theory anyway.

I also needed defenders, but I only got 1 guy who is a 4^th choice emergency. I’m not exactly thrilled when the 3^rd choice sees action, so fingers crossed for next year.

Season	Division		Position	Notes										
2019	First Division 		2nd		Narrowly beaten to title. promoted through playoffs with extra time goal. Cup Q/F

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by vikeologist

[Fadedaf]

Oppsal Youth Intake 2042

We've hit the jackpot boys!

 

This guy looks incredible:

The best player on my team already at the age of 16. Hopefully we can keep him for at least a season or two!

[Soviet]

@FadedafHe's really good, no way you'll keep for more than two seasons

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Viikingit Skol Skool 2020 Report

I knew that we would probably be in a relegation battle this season, and indeed we spent pretty much the entire season in the relegation playoff spot, That’s where we were going into the final match of the season, but it was still in our hands, because the 2 teams above us were playing each other. A win would have been enough, even if it possibly went down to goals scored.

The entire match we looked as though a draw would be enough, In fact we were in the lead for a while. At the end of normal time we parked the bus trying to get the draw we needed because KTP, the team above us was losing.

And then disaster. KTP equalised in the 90^th minute. They actually won the math in the 94^th,  although that made no difference to us, but by the time the ball went out of play and we could start attacking again, the game was over, and our draw had consigned us to the relegation playoffs.

And for the second season in a row, we’re in the relegation / promotion playoff because of KTP in the final match of the season. (Last season we would have been Division 1 champions of KTP hadn’t pipped us at the post by winning their match. I’m starting to hate KTP).

Our opponents in the playoffs were to be Jaro who had finished 2^nd in the First Division. I was expecting another close contest like last year which we’d only emerged victorious in after extra time.

However, it was men against boys. Admittedly, technically, we were the team of actual boys, but we won the first leg at Jaro 6-0, and then 10-3 on aggregate.

What a relief! Jaro are managed by a guy that was an excellent U20 coach for us. Shame for him he’s such a crap manager. Now the guy hates me. I made you, bitch.

Top Goalscorer - Cheikh Touré = 19

By far our best striker, and the only member of the squad in his thirties. He is only 30 though, so hopefully by the time he declines, our tranche of youth players will be up to the task.

Highest Average Rating - Jesse Mutikainen – 7.31

Our left back narrowly beat out last year’s guy, our right back.

Man of the Match - Jere Pulkkinen – 4

Speak of the devil. This is the right back in question.

MVP - Sam Jammeh

Our goalie let in 78 goals over the course of the season, but to be honest, it wasn’t his fault.

 

Most Promising Player (MPP) - Oskari Ahola YP2a

I think it’s probably the top guy from this year’s intake. He’s a central defender, and I planned to take my time introducing him to the first team, but he’s developed really quickly, and is country miles ahead of the starter he’s replaced.

Youth Intake

Other than Oskari, the other main guys haven’t had a sniff of first team action. Jaakko Sevón YP2b is a wing back I need to positionally retrain. Mika Toivainen YP2c is a striker stuck behind my 5 strikers from the first intake. Oskari actually looks as though he may be the only good arrival, but he is looking a much more exciting prospect than when he arrived. Just hope I can hold on to him.

Being in the Premier League didn’t actually do much for us financially, and we haven’t been in a position yet to improve any of our facilities. We probably will need to qualify for Europe to resolve this, but hopefully that’s doable.

 

Season	Division		Position	Notes										
2019	First Division 		2nd		Narrowly beaten to title. promoted through playoffs with extra time goal. Cup Q/F
2020	Premier League		11th		Retained top league status with a dominant relegation playoff performance.

 

[Soviet]

BTW guys did you hear about the new FM2020 thing? Big clubs will be able to come and poach your best young prospects even before they get to your team through intake. This can make this challenge even more interesting (or frustrating...).

[Forest]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb Soviet:

BTW guys did you hear about the new FM2020 thing? Big clubs will be able to come and poach your best young prospects even before they get to your team through intake. This can make this challenge even more interesting (or frustrating...).

where did you see this?

[Soviet]

1 hour ago, Forest said:

where did you see this?

From our lord and saviour himself:

 

[darren1983]

4 hours ago, Soviet said:

BTW guys did you hear about the new FM2020 thing? Big clubs will be able to come and poach your best young prospects even before they get to your team through intake. This can make this challenge even more interesting (or frustrating...).

Yeah saw this, it was already in the game but this just let's you know you've lost someone. You can't do anything about it so just seems a feature designed to annoy those of us that play it like this  

1 hour ago, Forest said:

where did you see this?

Was announced on either Miles or the official twitter account last week I think? 

[darren1983]

On the note of FM20 with it being around 4 weeks away (I think?) got me thinking about the thread. As said previously I'll be back in this thread next season, already know who my team will be (not the, I assume, popular side in Palermo) and wonder what people would prefer:

A new thread just for FM20 updates

A new thread for FM20 but also let's people post about older versins if that's what they're playing

Just continue from this thread with probably updating the first post

Am happy to do the thread again this year in whatever way people would prefer

Also @XaW how has running a custom database gone? Still not sure about including custom databases personally as there's no way of knowing really if a side has been boosted by the user to make the challenge a little easier with a custom one is there? As you might be able to tell I don't really use them often enough to know much about them  

[Soviet]

I would go with option two, a new thread, but for all games. I would also suggest updating the rules and formatting in the first post since it looks a bit... dated after years of copy and paste

Edited October 21, 2019 by Soviet

[BillHoudini24]

I would go for option 2 as well Darren, I'm still playing a Dafuge Challenge on FM17 and the current format has discouraged me from posting my progress.

[Forest]

Option 2 but without custom database

If you like custom db, then it is probably better to post in the career forum

Btw what are your teams for fm20? 😉

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by Forest

[XaW]

5 hours ago, darren1983 said:

Also @XaW how has running a custom database gone? Still not sure about including custom databases personally as there's no way of knowing really if a side has been boosted by the user to make the challenge a little easier with a custom one is there? As you might be able to tell I don't really use them often enough to know much about them  

I think it worked great, to be honest. I really enjoyed managing in the Faroe Islands, even though I didn't make that much of it. I guess it's easier to become a bit tired of a save when you have 1,500 hours of the game...

But, for me I'd like to see them available in this challenge. I mean, if someone really want to cheat it's not like we would ever know if a person save-scumed or used an external tool or whatnot. Maybe for those playing with extended leagues or new leagues would get an * if they were to complete it and be eligible for the leaderboard or something? Or perhaps allow people to post their progress, but not add to the leaderboard? I dunno, I'd just like the opportunity to share my progress here, and I don't quite feel confident enough to have my own thread in the career updates.

I'll probably have a go at this in FM20 as soon as the beta is available, so no custom db then, but I'd like to have another go after a while when all the cool db's are available if possible.

[zila90]

On 21/10/2019 at 15:38, darren1983 said:

On the note of FM20 with it being around 4 weeks away (I think?) got me thinking about the thread. As said previously I'll be back in this thread next season, already know who my team will be (not the, I assume, popular side in Palermo) and wonder what people would prefer:

A new thread just for FM20 updates

A new thread for FM20 but also let's people post about older versins if that's what they're playing

Just continue from this thread with probably updating the first post

Am happy to do the thread again this year in whatever way people would prefer

Also @XaW how has running a custom database gone? Still not sure about including custom databases personally as there's no way of knowing really if a side has been boosted by the user to make the challenge a little easier with a custom one is there? As you might be able to tell I don't really use them often enough to know much about them  

When do you plan to open a new thread (option 2)?

This year I probably won't buy a FM20, therefore, I will play this challenge with FM19 but I don't want to post the updates in two different threads.
If there will be a new one I will start there with my career.

[darren1983]

4 hours ago, zila90 said:

When do you plan to open a new thread (option 2)?

 

This year I probably won't buy a FM20, therefore, I will play this challenge with FM19 but I don't want to post the updates in two different threads.
If there will be a new one I will start there with my career.

 

New thread will open whenever the beta comes out.

Gonna go with option 2 and, at least to start with, I'm gonna go with no external leagues. Just what is in the box (so to speak)

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Viikingit Skol Skool 2021 Report

After 2 seasons of excitement and stress, this one somewhat inevitably was a bit boring. We were comfortably in mid table all season. Finishing 9^th in a 12 team league is a misleading stat as we finished 15 and 19 points ahead of the bottom 2 teams, and only 7 points behind the European qualifying spot of 4^th.

On the plus side, we finally had our first minor facilities improvement; Youth facilities from Poor to Basic.

On the minus side, our best striker Peetu Riihilahti YP1b has wanted to leave for the last 2 years of his initial contract. I gave him lots of first team action in the hope he’d change his mind, but it doesn’t look like my cunning plan is going to work, and I’ll lose him this off-season. I have plenty of other theoretically promising strikers.

Hold on. He’s still got a year left. Does that mean he’s only been bitching and moaning about a move for one year? God, time is moving slowly.

Top Goalscorer – Simon Thurling / Behar Zymberi = 12

Thurling is a midfielder who takes penalties, and dependable veteran Zymberi only started 13 matches. Riihilahti YP1b, who started pretty much every match, only picked up 12 goals.

Zymberi in theory is not one of my best strikers, but I probably should start him over the youth players because he does score goals. 8 of Simon’s 12 goals were penalties, including one crazy match where we were awarded 4 penalties in the first half, and Simon only converted 3 of them.

Highest Average Rating - Aki Remes YP3a – 7.44

Only 5 players even had an A.R. over 7. 2 of them weren’t starters, and Remes was the top prospect in this year’s intake, and only started 8 matches. I’m playing him slightly out of position in central midfield, and retraining him, but it doesn’t seem to matter. He’s not only a good player, he’s a set pieces wizard. Hope I can hold on to him.

I have another player called Remes, so I’ll usually refer to the kid as Aki.

Man of the Match – Simon Thurling – 4

Indicative that nobody really stands out in our team.

MVP - Sam Jammeh

I was going to say nobody. Zymberi didn’t play enough. Neither did Aki. Probably Jammeh for the second year in a row, because he’s our only good goalie, and he buggered off for a month mid-season for the African Cup. We later picked up a promising goalie in this year’s intake, but for the moment we desperately need Jammeh.

 

Most Promising Player (MPP) - Oskari Ahola YP2a

We have 6 players with potential 5 stars according to my staff, but none of them have great judging stats, so who knows. However, I’ve already mentioned Aki and Riihilahti. The other star youth player at the moment is my central defender Ahola, who I threw everything at contract-wise to tie him up for the next 4 seasons.

Youth Intake

Apart from Aki, Akseli Saarinen YP3b is a very promising right back who may suffer from the fact that he’s behind 2 very good players and might not get enough first team action, and Ville Brotkin YP3c, a right back stuck behind 3 players. Jarmo Åström YP3d is the aforementioned promising goalie.

Season	Division		Position	Notes										
2019	First Division 		2nd		Narrowly beaten to title. promoted through playoffs with extra time goal. Cup Q/F
2020	Premier League		11th		Retained top league status with a dominant relegation playoff performance.
2021 	Premier League		9th		Never in any danger of relegation or hope of qualifying for Europe.

 

[SkiIIs]

Season 5 - 2023/24

In the Champions League  best place play off we were dealt the most difficult opponent in Benfica. First leg was away where we managed a 4 - 3 loss which was a fantastic result going into the home leg, but unfortunately we never looked like scoring in a 1 - 0 loss.  In the Euro cup we were paired with Real San Sebastian, Dynamo of Croatia and Dynamo Kyiv. Out of the 6 games we won 3, drew 2 and lost 1 to finish second in the group to Real. First knockout round we drew Spanish opponents again in Villareal with the first leg at home.  We deservedly beat them 2 - 0 at home however away we lost 3 - 0 to a late goal.

In the league it was more of the same, don't have the depth to play so many games so was travelling around mid table going into the winter break.  After the break we were more commanding and finished 4th. FSCB were miles ahead of the rest of the league so we were all playing for the second champions league spot. 6 wins and 4 losses in the champions playoff helped us finish second.

Youth intake was ok with 3x 5 star potentials but none with more than 2 star CA. 

Improved our facilities once again.  No transfers out this season although have had several offers for my players. Porto have been trying to sign my LB who managed to play for the international team.  He was unhappy for the remainder of the season until he played for Romania which I then tied him down to a long term contract.

Leagues   Transfers   Facilities

[Jtomsett11]

Bari Season 9 update 2027/28

League - finished 2nd

Having won the league last season, this season was always going to be interesting in terms of whether we could keep up our incredible over achievement. Additionally, with the birth of my first child, I've found playing time much harder to come by so it's taken me 4 months to complete the latest season.

For large parts of the season I wasn't enjoying the team - I played 33 players in league matches which just goes to show how unsure I was off which first team players were truly first team and which young players were worth playing to aid their development. In fact, for the last third of the season I ended up focusing mostly on working out my squad for the next season as we looked very likely to fail to make the champions league places, residing in 5th for most of the back end of the season. However, this game has a way of suddenly recapturing your interest, and some superb end of season form pushed us back in contention. Indeed, after 35 games we could still technically win the league! It didn't end up happening as you can see, but 2nd place is a superb achievement once again. 

Cups 

I really wanted to win the Italian Cup this season, but went out at the semi-final stage to a much improved Udinese side. Success in the Super Cup and Italian Super Cup were nice bonuses, but in the Champions League our group stage success, finishing second in a group containing Man Utd, Villarreal and Schalke 04, was ended in the next round as we went out to Liverpool. We gave it a good go, but ultimately lost in extra time 3-2 on aggregate. Certainly nothing to be ashamed off!

Other news

Club of the year and manager of the year

Youth recruitment - 3 players with high potential including one with 20 determination! Superb stuff! For some reason all 3 of the top ones were 5* potential the day after this screenshot!

Finances - looking very good!

Transfers - a few out - this will hopefully continue next season as I try to trim the squad to 22 + a few youth from U20s 

Player awards

Next season

A brief update this so apologies for the lack of detail. I hope to give a much bigger update next season now I'm finding a few more hours to play. This will include a squad update and some big updates on contracts as I'm either going to sell my best player Boakye (our player of the year) or renew his contract if he requests to stay after 18 months on the transfer list! Any champions league finish would be welcome plus a cup win?!

Season	League	Finish	Finances	Youth facilities	Training facilities	Youth recruitment	Junior coaching	Top scorer	Top assists
1	Serie C	1st	£2.8 million	Average	Average	Above average	Average	Simeri (23)	Bollini (11)
2	Serie B	7th (lost in play off semis)	£2.4 million	Good	Good	Established	Adequate	Simeri (11)	Ottalenghi (7)
3	Serie B	9th	£2.95 million	Good	Great	Established	Exceptional	Simeri (7)	Paba 21D (7)
4	Serie B	2nd (promoted)	£7 million	Great	Great	Established	Exceptional	Rossi (11)	Margagliotti 20C (9)
5	Serie A	5th (qualified for Euro Cup)	£30 million	Great	Excellent	Extensive	Exceptional	Parlato (11)	Margagliotti 20C (8)
6	Serie A	5th (qualified for Euro Cup)	£72 million	Excellent	Superb	Extensive	Exceptional	Parlato (20)	Parise, Margagliotti and Bernardini (8)
7	Serie A	5th (qualified for Euro Cup)	£101 million	Superb	State of the art	Extensive	Exceptional	Parlato (16)	Margagliotti (11)
8	Serie A	1st!!	£136 million	State of the art	State of the art	Extensive	Exceptional	Tortora (21)	Troiano (12)
9	Serie A	2nd	£178 million	State of the art	Superb	Extensive	Exceptional	Parlato (17)	Dibenedetto (8)

Edited October 30, 2019 by Jaketomsett

[BrightLad5]

After being a long time Dafuge Challenge fan, I’ve decided this year to step it up a bit and try the Youth Challenge. I’ve had my eye on it for a few years but never settled on the idea, as I’m a big fan of signing young talent. Developing your own is always more satisfying Though, and even though I feel this could be personally my biggest FM challenge in the last 15 odd years, I think it’s time!!

The development centre feature could be massive this time round!

Ive got my eye on Lancaster City for this challenge. Has anyone else got a desired team in mind yet?

[Soviet]

I think I'll do FC Andorra in FM20. I love weird teams with exotic newgens playing in strong leagues. I only hope they will have the "develop youth" vision, which might be an important thing in next game.

[Diego D10S]

Got a few clubs in mind. The new Club Vison feature will be an extra challenge, but thats what we like  

@darren1983 will it be a new post incomming ?

 

[darren1983]

2 minutes ago, Diego D10S said:

Got a few clubs in mind. The new Club Vison feature will be an extra challenge, but thats what we like  

@darren1983 will it be a new post incomming ?

 

Yeah will be coming very shortly. 

[Diego D10S]

6 minutes ago, darren1983 said:

Yeah will be coming very shortly. 

I will probably join you in Palermo  we'll see , depends on their club vision tho

 

[darren1983]

2 minutes ago, Diego D10S said:

I will probably join you in Palermo  we'll see , depends on their club vision tho

 

Am leaning somewhere else right now so we shall see

New Thread

[Jakobhg]

I'm looking to maybe do this challenge this year (but might go with the dafuge challenge or the pentagon challenge instead)

Are there any rules towards the players in the squad at the beginning of the save who are not from the academy.
Can you keep them for the first couple of seasons, until you have had a couple of youth intakes to make up a squad, or should you let them go as soon as possible (even though you will be left with a small squad).

I'm just curious on how to start out the game

[Soviet]

11 minutes ago, Jakobhg said:

I'm looking to maybe do this challenge this year (but might go with the dafuge challenge or the pentagon challenge instead)

Are there any rules towards the players in the squad at the beginning of the save who are not from the academy.
Can you keep them for the first couple of seasons, until you have had a couple of youth intakes to make up a squad, or should you let them go as soon as possible (even though you will be left with a small squad).

I'm just curious on how to start out the game

Yes of course. You can keep the players that start in the club and you can extend their contracts as long as you need. It would be quite impossible otherwise :).

Edited November 5, 2019 by Soviet

[Jakobhg]

47 minutes ago, Soviet said:

Yes of course. You can keep the players that start in the club and you can extend their contracts as long as you need. It would be quite impossible otherwise :).

Thanks man!

Yeah I thought so as well  

[PukkiParty]

On 02/04/2019 at 19:56, PukkiParty said:

2021/2022 Season Review

 

Performance

My second season in the Conference with Kings Lynn, I literally finished on the same number of points as last year, I was much better defensively however didn't get as many goals. Once again I reached the play off's, this time I lost in the play off final to Kidderminster Harriers which was a tough one to take, however the money from the Play Off final has meant we've upgraded our Youth Recruitment. I really feel that I'm stagnating a little so I really hope some of my young players can develop a lot better this next season and potentially push us on a bit.

League Table 

We were knocked out of the FA Cup by Newport County in the 2nd Round and than knocked out by York City in the FA Trophy in the 4th Round. 

Notable Players

My top scorer was Harry Limb, this time he got 24 League goals in 44 league games. He's still only 22 so hopefully will keep banging them in for a long time. Adam Marriott my previous top goal scorer had a really poor season and only managed to get 8 league goals. 

Luke McCormick was again a standout, he got 9 goals and 14 assists in 43 league games. His stats were not as good as last season but again I think that's due to losing a bit of attacking threat this season.

In terms of the young players who have come through Finley Clampin once again had the best season, he got 7 assists in 36 appearances from right back.

Youth Intake

This youth intake was again described as a 'Golden Generation' (once again), but probably about the same as the second years in terms of quality.

Prospect #1 By a mile, Michael Woodthorpe looks to be the best of the bunch. His finishing stats look decent and I reckon he'll be thrown into the squad next season.

Prospect #2 He's followed by Orrett Gaynor, who looks a good passer of the ball.

Prospect #3 Joe Read is my third best prospect this year, although I have many centre backs ahead of him, so I don't anticipate him playing much next season.

Here is the seasons transfers.

I really want to get out of this division, but I don't think the squad is really improving much. The windfall from Wembley means I have a healthy bank balance, what do people think is the best thing to get upgraded? Junior Coaching, Youth Recruitment or Professional Status?

 

 

 

Right, 

After a few saves doing other bits I'm now going to resume this challenge and hopefully push on!

[PukkiParty]

2021/2022 Season Review

 

Performance

So it's been a while that I've posted as I sort of shelved this save for a little while. The main reason for this is the fact I had a pretty miserable season, my third season in the Conference with back to back top 5 finished ended with us finishing 19th. The key reason for the miserable season is that we were defensively poor and we also struggled more in getting goals. 

In terms of cup competitions, we lost in the FA Cup 2nd Round to Dagenham & Redbridge and we got knocked out of the FA Trophy in the 1st Round by Spennymoor Town. As you can see a pretty underwhelming season. 

Notable Players

Once again, my top goal scorer was Harry Limb with 24 goals in all competitions. Unfortunately this will be his last time being top goal scorer as he is refusing to sign a new contract. Since the beginning of my save Harry Limb has scored 97 in 174 games in all competitions. He will be sorely missed and could result in another tough season. I'd hoping for a miraculous change in decision before his contract expires. 

In terms of assists this was led by Zac Rich this year, who is part of class 2021. In all competitions he got 15 assists in 42 appearances and is now comfortably keeping Louis Danquah out of my team. 

One potentially positive note is the form of Rob Edwards towards the end of the season, he finished with the joint highest average of the season and scored a couple of screamers. I feel as though he's never been able to establish consistent form up until now, so fingers crossed he can pick up where he left off next season. 

Youth Intake

I know it takes time but having upgraded and invested a lot of the Wembley money in youth, I was a little disappointed with the youth intake this year. 

Prospect #1 The cream of the crop is probably Andrew Ryan. He looks like he will be good but with Zac Rich and Louis Danquah he might have a struggle getting minutes right away. 

Prospect #2 Shane Rogers at right back will probably have more minutes next year as this is a position we look quite weak. He has decent stats across the board although lacking a little bit of pace. 

Prospect #3  Taking the prospect bronze this year is Kyran Abrahams. Another good youngster who should be comfortable with this level, however AMC is always a little awkward for me as it doesn't currently fit into my tactics. I will probably reach a point where I think about tinkering for next season but he's the only decent AMC prospect I have. 

Here is the seasons transfers.

 

 

[Koetzer]

FM18 - SK Austria Klagenfurt

Manager

First team | Reserves/Youth

Key players: Probst (DC) - Salentinig (DL) - Zagar Knez (MR) - Jaritz (ML) - Hirschhofer (ST)

Decided to put FM20 on hold until the next major update (absolutely no fun to play with current match engine for me) and start this challenge in FM18. Austria Klagenfurt seems like a great team to do this, just look at their facilities including a 32000-seated stadium! With Austrian 2nd division expanding from 10 to 16 teams after first season it shouldn't be hard to stay in the league but the board already wants us to finish mid-table.

[Koetzer]

SK Austria Klagenfurt - Season 2018/19

2. Liga

Liefering are unavailable to play in higher division as Red Bull B team, so Mattersburg claimed the only promotion spot. Our position looks quite promising for the next season, just hope the relegated team won't be too overpowered.

ÖFB Cup

A good run, we defeated the eventual winner of our division and lost to a Bundesliga team on penalties.

Youth intake

Allmendinger 19a | Keil 19b | Funk 19c | Yesil 19d | Agten 19e | Schwaighofer 19f

Allmendinger is obviously the most promising youngster here, and if the registration window was open in February, he could get some playing time in the first team already.

Squad stats

Three players scored more than 10 goals this season, and Jaritz also added 14 assists. Not a surprise he had the best average rating too. Unfortunately, we lost our star defender Probst with damaged cruciate ligaments until next winter (and he doesn't want to sign a new contract, so with that injury we are likely to lose him for free next year... though if we win promotion, he may reconsider this issue).

Transfers

Those two players were signed before the season update, of course. Also some foreign players left due to strict rules in this division (maximum 3 over-21 foreigners in match squad).

By the way, one Austrian rule is awesome for the youth challenge - if you include a lot of young players in the match squad, the league rewards you several times during the season (we received about 1.5M, that was a lot more than any other income and actually allowed us to stay above zero).

[andershs]

Belfast Celtic FC (N. Ireland)
Season 1 - 2020/21

We survived in the Northern Irish third tier and finished 9th. Given that we had no goalkeeper and no right-back in our squad, this is a success.

For some reason, my Head of Youth Development kept making offers for players to my first team. I haven't found the correct setting to change yet. I managed to cancel most offers, but one went through as you can see in my incoming transfers. As you can see from the outgoing transfers, I released him on the same date. I hope this is ok and not a dealbreaking violation of the challenge rules.

League (Results 1, Results 2, Cups) - Not much to tell about the cups. In the league, we started ok with a draw, a loss and a win. But for the next ten games, we did not win and managed only 5 draws. After a particularly poor 2-5 loss against Banbridge, I rejected my tactic and switched to a simple long-ball 4-4-2. Luckily, this improved the results somewhat, and we won 4 of our next 7 matches, effectively avoiding relegation in the process.
The last two games of the season were both won and were our first back to back wins of the season. Whether this was due to us finally having an actual goalkeeper and right back, I don't know, but we played quite well, so hopefully we can keep improving in the new season.

Team - Our strongest area is the attack where our striker Darren Stuart scored 11 goals in 20 league matches. In addition to the positions where we have no players, we are very thin in central midfield as well as central defense. There is not much quality. Our youth intake prospects are very welcome additions to the team.

Facilities - I managed to force through upgrades to the Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment, so they are now both Average. This is very pleasing.

Finances - We still have black numbers on our bank account, but we are loosing money every month, so it will be a matter of a few months before our finances are negative. This means, that our average intake facility levels will have to do for the foreseeable future. This is ok, as I am confident, that the player quality will be enough for this level. 

Youth Intake - Very good intake. The goalkeeper Mark Harrison and the right back Mark Murphy went straight into the first team. I am also hoping that Glenn Teer can turn into a decent striker, and Darren Lavery looks very promising in central midfield. So all in all a very promising youth intake.

Goal for next season: Avoid relegation. Improve on this seasons position of 9th.

Edited December 14, 2019 by andershs

[Koetzer]

On 14/12/2019 at 20:14, Koetzer said:

Unfortunately, we lost our star defender Probst with damaged cruciate ligaments until next winter

Two days after he resumed training...

And earlier we lost our starting midfielder Zakany who suffered spine injury and had to retire  However, we are fighting for promotion so far.

[thomas_e]

Wow, thats brutal @Koetzer! How old was Zakany when he had to retire? 

[Koetzer]

2 hours ago, thomas_e said:

Wow, thats brutal @Koetzer! How old was Zakany when he had to retire? 

31, so guess that could be expected in his case.

[Miek]

Wanted to get peoples thoughts on my current save (Nuneaton FC) and the next steps to take: 

• Second season in VNN and I will most likely reach a play off spot. 
• First youth intake was very mediocre and probably wont produce any first team members in the future
• Finances are stable around 200-300K balance. Haven't made any youth investments cause of our financial situation.
• My two best platers are 31 (Striker and league topscorer) and 32 (DLP). 

Should I try to clinch promotion trough the play offs or hold off and build a more solid base?
Should I invest in my youth facilities/coaching even though that might put our numbers in red? 
How to generate more income? I'm trying to organize friendlies against high profile clubs and get as far as possible in the cups. Any other tips?
 

Edited December 16, 2019 by Miek